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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27742702">ningen yōkai</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/azareth/pseuds/azareth'>azareth</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Boys' Love, Bullying, Fluff and Angst, Horny Teenagers, M/M, Protective Ushijima Wakatoshi, Slow Romance, Tendou Satori Needs a Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:35:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,570</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27742702</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/azareth/pseuds/azareth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The night before Wakatoshi leaves to go pro, Tendou wishes they had one more day together.</p><p>Ten years later, when they meet again, Wakatoshi wishes they'd had more time together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>127</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. ningen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Tendou and Toshi are 18+. Please review tags for any triggers/warnings.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Strangely enough, it doesn’t occur to Tendou until their final day together, that he might actually miss Wakatoshi-kun. Tonight the upperclassmen gather for a farewell drink. Tomorrow, they sever all that tethers them together and go their separate ways.</p>
<p>Tendou doesn’t reminisce often. There is usually nothing pleasant to dig up, but he cannot say he hasn’t enjoyed these last few years on the team. He stares with hooded eyes across the bar, finding Toshi stiffly engaged in awkward conversation with a lively bunch. </p>
<p>No one, Tendou thinks as he savors his beer, is more deserving of going pro than Wakatoshi Ujishima. He’s happy for him, not in the least bit jealous either, as others try and pretend not to be. But the realization that Toshi is in fact going far away hits differently tonight. Tendou is surprised to have not given it much thought.</p>
<p>Pushing off the counter, he goes over to make conversation, if anything to distract his friend who, by all accounts, is the least cheerful-looking person at the party. Toshi must be thinking of something practical. That realization makes Tendou grin widely, ready to poke fun, perhaps even tease it out of the stoic ace. He stops halfway as the words of those surrounding Toshi reach him.</p>
<p>“Make sure you get along with your new teammates, Ujishima-san,” one of them says, “and please pick your friends more wisely this time.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” another scoffs derisively, “don’t go befriending anymore creeps. Ya don’t want that kinda reputation following you.”</p>
<p>They crack up uproariously. Laughter is nothing new. It has stalked Tendou all his life. He’s learned to brush it off, but there are times when it’s still hard. Resentment kindles tensely in his chest.</p>
<p>He looks at their company. Toshi looks so stiff, Tendou thinks his spine might snap in two.</p>
<p>“Speaking of monsters,” one of the guys goes on. “Anyone know what Tendou-san will be doing next?”</p>
<p>“Heh…” says another, “anyone care?”</p>
<p>Tendou yawns loudly, startling the group, and drawls, “I’m surprised you don’t have anything better to talk about.”</p>
<p>“A-ah, T-Tendou-san…”</p>
<p>“Askin’ me yourselves would be much easier. I’m quittin’ volleyball, do somethin’ more interesting with my life.” He sits beside Toshi with an exaggerated groan. “Not like ya care, though, huh?”</p>
<p>There is an awkward silence so thick, it is suffocating. Toshi’s baritone breaks it.</p>
<p>“I care,” Wakatoshi says. He stares the guys down, and adds, “As for whom I befriend on my new team, I don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”</p>
<p>The guys balk. Tendou turns to find an unusually cold curl to his friend’s lip, Toshi’s frown as deep as it’s been during the most challenging games. He feels a ball of warmth in his gut, waging war against the tension in his chest.</p>
<p> “I suggest you all grow up,” Toshi says firmly. “Name-calling is for children.”</p>
<p>“But Ujishima-san, it’s just a nickname! ‘Guess-monst—’”</p>
<p>“You’re childish,” Toshi snaps. “The least you can do on our last day together is show Satori some respect. You wouldn’t know how many games we’ve won thanks to him. As of tomorrow, none of us in this room will be classmates. Call him something vile again,” Toshi’s voice takes on a darker edge, “and I will wring your necks.”</p>
<p>Tendou is speechless. His heart races like it does mid-game, when he’s made his jump and can feel where the ball will go right for him to block. His face must be bright red, yet not from the alcohol. A collective chill runs through the group, but Tendou only feels the warmth in his gut pool much lower.</p>
<p>“Ne, Wakatoshi-kun,” Tendou half sings, “you’ll get on just fine with your new teammates.” He laughs, not knowing what else to do since he is so shaken, and he almost misses it when Toshi meets his eye with an imperceptible smile. Tendou’s jeans grow uncomfortable at the sight.</p>
<p>How many times has he seen it? How many times has he been to only one to make Toshi smile?</p>
<p>“Yes. Of course.” Toshi nods and rises. “I’m going to get another drink. Would you like one?”</p>
<p>Tendou can tell he’s not speaking to anyone else. “Hai~!” he replies. “Another beer. I’ll see you at the bar, goin’ to hit the men’s room.” </p>
<p>It’s unclear whether Toshi has heard him, but Tendou trusts in the unspoken bond that is their friendship, one which started with his constant pestering and curiosity over the silent, powerful volleyball player. His left-handed wonderboy. Tendou’s own little yokai.</p>
<p>He deposits his empty bottle on the table, ready to leave these particular guys behind. Tendou even salutes them farewell, though they ignore him. Their eyes are on Wakatoshi’s back heading for the bar, and one says with a scoff, “Guess there’s no saving even Ujishima-san. That’s a volleyball demon barely hanging on to his human form.”</p>
<p>“At least we know whose fault that is.”</p>
<p>Tendou stares at them, wondering for just how long these people he’s shared class with have loathed him so, and finding it surprising they’ve waited until now to make it known. He knows their words shouldn’t weigh more than Toshi’s, and they don’t matter, not quite, but it’s strangely difficult to push them down. Tendou slinks quietly off to the restroom.</p>
<p>He washes his hands and stares tiredly at his reflection. He is alone. There is no expression but smooth nonchalance on his face, yet his eyes streak red and the tears roll down hot and steady.</p>
<p>The scene replays in his mind while the running water competes with his anguish: the look on Wakatoshi-kun’s face, jaw set, fists clenched, defending Tendou when it would have been easier to stay quiet. It makes his dick harden.</p>
<p>He realizes he is still as friendless and outcast at nineteen as he was at nine. But he has Toshi. At least until tomorrow. That thought is more painful than the others.</p>
<p>“Satori.” Wakatoshi has barged into the men’s room. “I ordered your beer. What is it?” He stands, caught off guard when Tendou jumps, and then frowns with concern.</p>
<p>Tendou smiles through eyes as red as his locks. What a sight he makes: sad and horny.</p>
<p>“I’m going to miss you,” Tendou says, nearly whispering. He huffs a low laugh and shuts the tap. “Guess it just hit me how much. And I wish we still had some more time. One more game. One more warm-up, another round of stretches.”</p>
<p>Toshi’s eyes travel from Tendou’s face to his jeans, where they fix. Color spreads on his nose and Tendou notices it only when Toshi moves deeper inside and roots himself at the sink, too. “Is that why you’re crying?”</p>
<p>Tendou only raises his head to meet Wakatoshi-kun’s steady gaze. The last few years flash before his eyes and he wonders why time flew so fast, why he didn’t tell Toshi— </p>
<p>“It’s alright,” Toshi replies calmly. “I’m going to miss you, too.”</p>
<p>Tendou’s breath catches, not over the way those words make his heart race, but because Toshi moves in on him, takes him in his arms and kisses him. A stall door locking behind their connected frames is the last thing Tendou sees before losing himself in the warmth that is Toshi.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. yōkai</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The night they spend together is branded into Ushijima’s memory. Despite the passage of time, he can still feel the warmth of Satori’s breath mixing with his own. Ushijima remembers the way Tendou came in his palm when they were in that bathroom. Sometimes when he’s hard, he recalls the way he ached with anticipation by the time they’d returned to his room that night.</p><p>It was ten years ago, but he remembers it like it was yesterday.</p><p>They’ve met again a handful of times since. Once in Warsaw. Once in Japan. Once in France. They have fucked each time but, somehow those memories are more fleeting, as if the distance between him and Satori grew with each encounter.</p><p>Ushijima returns to Japan after ten long years to attend his high school reunion. He thinks Tendou will be there but it’s a long shot. They haven’t really spoken in almost four years. Ten years ago, in the early hours of the day of his departure, Tendou’s hair was fanned out against his bare arm while they cuddled.</p><p>
  <i>“I can wait for you, Toshi-kun,” Tendou said. “Follow ya around like a groupie.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“That would be something.” Ushijima imagined it, Satori at all of his games. Going home to Tendou, unable to picture where that would be, but knowing it would be home with Satori’s big smile awaiting him. Celebrating wins, and enduring losses, with Tendou. “But I can’t ask that of you. You should live your life according to your own terms.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Satori had gone quiet, raised himself on an elbow and studied Ushijima with his big, distinct eyes.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I don’t know where going pro will take me,” Ushijima went on to say, always so much loquacious around Satori than anyone else. “It’s unsettling, not knowing. But I want to reach the top. It will be hard. And I don’t want you to have a hard life because of me. So, I can’t ask that of you.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Ya wouldn’t have to ask,” Satori said.</i>
</p><p>As he enters the traditional bar and is met with familiarly foreign-faces, Ushijima wonders if he should have asked anyway. He gets reacquainted with former teammates. They talk about his incredible career, asking what’s next for him. Ushijima goes quiet. He’s come here tonight because after ten long years of professional volleyball, international travel and recognition, reaching the top and seeing what lies on the other side, there is something missing.</p><p>“I think it’s time to retire,” he says calmly, to the collective exclamation of everyone around him. “Excuse me.”</p><p>Ushijima rises and makes his way to the men’s room. He’s known for a while that he wants to retire, not because volleyball has lost its appeal or that he has failed, but because he wonders night and day if he should have asked Tendou to wait for him. To come along with him.</p><p>There is a sing-song voice that meets his ear when he emerges. His eyes find Tendou, looking exactly as he did ten years ago, as if time is an illusion for him. The sole difference is the hair. Still red, but long, fixed attractively in a loose top knot.</p><p>“Hey, there he is~! Wakatoshi-kun!” Satori exclaims and hops over enthusiastically.</p><p>Ushijima charges for Tendou and tackles him in a hug so strong, the bar goes momentarily silent.</p><p>“W-Wakatoshi-kun,” Satori squeaks. “I can’t breathe.”</p><p>“Sorry.” Ushijima pulls away, grasps Tendou by the shoulder, and appraises him with a mixture of pride and longing. He can’t help but smile, genuinely. “Long time no see.”</p><p>“Yeah you too~! My gosh, it’s like you get bigger every year,” Tendou teased. “What kinda diet have they kept you fellas on?”</p><p>“Broccoli chicken,” Ushijima lists off his last meal, and then frowns at the blunder. “I don’t know why I said that.”</p><p>Tendou laughs brightly. “Hey how about a drink? Now that I’m here the old team is complete.”</p><p>Ushijima complies and they relocate to the low table to toast heartily. Everyone gets along. He can’t take his eyes off Tendou, impressed by the man’s eternal youth. It’s almost like the old nickname was true, and Tendou really is some kind of monster who will never age. But Ushijima is glad he has come. He thinks the reunion will solve his problem, make him less anxious about his reasons for wanting to retire. He thinks it will be nice to move back to Japan, maybe even relocate somewhere else, and do some other work. </p><p>As these thoughts paint themselves before his mind, his eyes lower to Tendou’s hand around his glass of alcohol to find a gold band. On the marriage finger. Ushijima stares at it, dumbfounded.</p><p>“You’re married,” he declares, derailing a nearby conversation.</p><p>“Hm?” Tendou looks at him, finding the burning gaze on his digit. “Oh, this~? Ne, Wakatoshi-kun, we always figured ya would get hitched first.” He wiggles his fingers before his face, and Ushijima is as good as hypnotized.</p><p>“How long?” Ushijima asks, shifting his gaze to Tendou’s. He feels crushed. When? How long?</p><p>
  <i>‘Ya wouldn’t have to ask.’</i>
</p><p>Why didn’t he ask?</p><p>“How long? Ummm…” Tendou lets out a long breath and each second is torture for Ushijima. “Three years now? Give or take.”</p><p>“I see.” Darkness enfolds him. Somewhere in his chest, he feels a dull pain. Ushijima sets his jaw, tosses back his drink, as he no longer hears what Tendou says next. “Excuse me.” </p><p>He rises, grabs his coat, and makes his way for the door. He thinks he will just get some fresh air, but he ends up walking all the way to the train station. All he can see is the red of Tendou’s hair fanned out on his bare arm, recalling the feel of his fingers through those locks, and the look in Tendou’s eyes back then. </p><p>
  <i>'Ya wouldn’t have to ask.'</i>
</p><p>He stands outside the train station and faces his reflection through the glass door. Something keeps him in place. Regret, maybe. Ushijima stares at his hands, finding it hard to believe they are the same to strike a volleyball with such precise force and yet cradled Tendou so tenderly ten years ago, and every time since. He forms two large fists, wishing he had made better use of his time with Tendou, wishing to turn back time to that night, so he could finally say—</p><p>“Tooooshi~!”</p><p>Ushijima turns, startled to find Tendou waving across the street. He stares at him, frozen, heart lurching in his chest when Tendou finally has the right to cross — which he does at a run. There is a flash of red, and then Tendou’s arms are thrown around his neck.</p><p>“You just up and left,” Tendou complains. “Who does that, hmm?”</p><p>Ushijima makes no reply. Tendou pulls away and stares at him, head tilted.</p><p>“Alright, it’s settled,” Tendou says, taking his hand. “You’re coming with me.”</p><p>“Where?” Ushijima asks, though he doesn’t resist the pull. He finds that he can’t. “Wait, Satori. Where are you taking me?”</p><p>“Where else?” Tendou looks over his shoulder, with his signature smile, to meet Ushijima’s eye. “Back to my hotel, of course. Ya know, I came all the way from France for you.”</p><p>“What about your spouse?” The word feels odd, because Ushijima can’t even begin to conjure a face to match it for Tendou. When he tries, he sees only himself.</p><p>Tendou stops walking. Silent, his hand slips out of Ushijima’s, and he sighs.</p><p>“Yare yare.” Without warning, he languidly pulls the ring off his finger and hurls it past Ushijima’s head. “There. It’s gone.”</p><p>“Wh-What are you…!”</p><p>“It’s amazing how eye-catching a simple band is,” Tendou huffs, “especially considering it’s only for show.” </p><p>“You’re not married.”</p><p>Tendou smiles and scrunches up his nose. “Gotcha,” he says playfully, and then adds, “I’m still waiting. Can we go now?”</p><p>Ushijima takes a hold of Tendou’s face and leans forward. He pours all of himself in the kiss he imparts. </p><p>“I’m ready,” he finally says. “And I love you. Let’s go.”</p><p>Tendou links their hands together. He hops and cheers gaily, and Ushijima finds it more uplifting than the thousands of strangers in arenas that he’s heard over the years.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Follow me on Tumblr <a href="https://aalizazareth.tumblr.com">@aalizazareth</a> for more!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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